Winter Prep

Preparation #1:  Move Reuben out of the toddler bed to a twin size bed.

 There he is giddily tucked in on the left,

not quite ready to give up his baby quilts,

thus the many layers of quilts.

We checked on him in the night

and found him all the way down here,

feeling the comfort of the footboard.

Preparation #2:  Try bunking the beds to make more space, like for a crib, say.

Reuben quickly climbed on the top,

then did his best to squeeze out some tears when we told him

he would be sleeping on the bottom,

Mr. I Fall Out of Bed Like Every Night.

Yes, this is how it shall be.

No guard rail up there.

We're counting on Peter's natural deep-sleepedness

and training him for college bunk beds.

And the bed didn't come with a railing.

He doesn't seem concerned.

 Preparation #3:  Put up the Christmas decorations.

Blah.

I so don't like clutter.

But my attitude very quickly changed
as I overheard Paul talking to the boys.

As they took items out of the boxes and
decided where to display them,

Paul explained the Christmas and Hannukah stories.

Decorating with a purpose.

I love it.

Peter is setting up the Playmobil nativity.

Being follow-the-directions Lego-minded,
we kind of had to give him permission
to set it up how he liked.
It doesn't have to look just like the box.

The boys did a beautiful job decorating.
What a great way to gear up for celebrating Christ's birth.

Preparation #4:  Process Peter and Reuben's fall pumpkins.

Our friend George scratched Peter and Reuben's names in

two of his homegrown pumpkins

and gave them to us for our front porch fall decor.

Today I finally cut them up,

baked them,

whirred them in the food processor,

drained them in cheesecloth,

and froze the golden pulp in one cup portions.

We enjoyed Pumpkin Sloppy Joes and Pumpkin Soup for dinner.

And now we're set for winter.  Hurrah.